Chapter 8 - Culture-Bound Syndromes, Cultural Variations, and Psychopathology

Abstract

Inaccuracies in the assessment and diagnosis of psychopathological conditions with culturally diverse groups might result from a lack of understanding of the presence of cultural variants leading to symptoms resembling psychopathology. These variables have generally been described in the case of culture-specific disorders known as "culture-bound syndromes." The glossary (Appendix I) of culture-bound syndromes included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) contains the description of 25 forms of aberrant behavior that are referred to as locality-specific troubling experiences that are limited to certain societies or cultural areas. The same cross-cultural literature, however, suggests that symptoms associated with a given mental disorder may be related to a particular cultural context but the disorder is not considered an example of "culture-bound syndromes" per se. In this case, clinicians are advised to consider specific cultural variants, which might explain symptoms suggesting the disorder under consideration. Although the DSM-IV did not explicitly emphasize this point, a review of the way the DSM-IV discusses cultural variants across several disorders suggests a distinction between culture-bound syndromes and the cultural variables contributing to symptoms in a given DSM-IV disorder.